SVADHAYAYA – integral part of yoga.

In the modern world, it is easy to point out the mistakes of others. Rather judging themselves, people like to find out mistakes of their friends, life partners or colleagues. Most of us are living a mechanical or robotic lifestyle. We perform daily duties like eating, sleeping, work and getting entertained with our friends and family. We don’t even know what we want from our life. Perhaps we do not want to know the purpose of life.

Three component of Kriya Yoga

If you read the entire philosophy of raja yoga (royal path), you will realise self-analysis is one of the most important aspects of true happiness. Maharashi Patanjali talks about SVADHAYAYA, as one of the three aspects of kriya yoga. These three components are austerity, self-study& total surrender towards god. We shall discuss a little about SVADHAYAYA, which literally means as SELF-STUDY or SELF-ANALYSIS. In self-analysis, we learn to understand and point out our own mistakes of present and past. Self-analysis is a mental process and it’s the key for total personality development.

In the olden times, yogis do spend a lot of time in the study of self. Over the time, yogis have experienced self-study as a powerful tool to have a better living. Self-analysis is not all about keeping the eyes closed and thinking of ourselves. Of course you need a balance of it in our everyday life. There should be balance between self-study and other necessary aspects of life certainly.

A greedy person tends to treat other people as an object to fulfil his/her greediness. In the same way a yogi who practice self-analysis understands other people as a manifestation of the god.

Self-analysis is the key to personality development. It is simple a method to understand our own qualities, weakness and strengths. Self-analysis also includes study of Holy Scriptures like Ramayana and Mahabharata. It also includes listening to spiritual discussions. As a result of self-study, one can gain mastery over one’s desires and thinking patterns. A dedicated practice of self-analysis allows the yoga practitioner to live a happier and well balance life.